1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector device for information-handling apparatus and a connector device for stereophonic audio/video apparatus, which connector devices have a jack and plug.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional connector devices for stereophonic audio/video apparatus will be described below. As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B of the accompanying drawings, there have been known a stereo headphone miniplug P-H and a stereo AV (audio/video) miniplug P-AV, each having an outside diameter of 3.5 mm. The stereo headphone miniplug P-H has a left audio signal contact L, a right audio signal contact R, and a ground contact G, arranged successively from a tip end thereof with insulators (shown solid). The stereo AV miniplug P-AV has a left audio signal contact L, a video signal contact V, a ground contact G, and a right audio signal contact R, arranged successively from a tip end thereof with insulators (shown solid). The first contacts near the tip ends of the stereo headphone miniplug P-H and the stereo AV miniplug P-AV have the same shape and length, and the second contacts near the tip ends of the stereo headphone miniplug P-H and the stereo AV miniplug P-AV have the same shape (cylindrical shape) and length. The ground contact G of the stereo AV miniplug P-AV has the same length as that of the video signal contact V thereof. The lengths of the insulators of the stereo headphone miniplug P-H and the stereo AV miniplug P-AV are equal to each other. The stereo headphone miniplug P-H and the stereo AV miniplug P-AV have respective thick cylindrical portions (not shown) of insulating material remote from the tip ends thereof. The lengths of the stereo headphone miniplug P-H and the stereo AV miniplug P-AV which extend from ends of the cylindrical portions to the tip ends are equal to each other.
To the contacts L, R, G of the stereo headphone miniplug P-H, there are connected to left and right loud-speakers SP.sub.L, SP.sub.R of a stereo headphone HP, that is, contacts L, R are connected to speakers SP.sub.L, SP.sub.R, respectively, and contact G is connected to both speakers SP.sub.L, SP.sub.R. To the contacts L, V, G, R of the stereo AV miniplug P-AV, there are connected corresponding terminals of an AV (audio/video) apparatus 12 such as a VTR (video tape recorder), a monitor television receiver, etc. The stereo headphone HP has an input impedance ranging from several tens to several hundreds .OMEGA., and the AV apparatus 12 has audio and video input impedances of about 2.2 K.OMEGA..
An AV (audio/video) amplifying apparatus (first AV apparatus) has a headphone audio amplifier for amplifying left and right audio signals, a line output audio amplifier, and a video amplifier for amplifying a video signal. The headphone audio amplifier has output terminals connected to a jack corresponding to the stereo headphone miniplug P-H. The line output audio amplifier and the video amplifier have output terminals connected to a jack corresponding to the stereo AV miniplug P-AV. Plugs are connected to these jacks to supply left and right audio signals from the headphone audio amplifier to the stereo headphone HP and also to supply left and right audio signals from the line output audio amplifier and a video signal from the video amplifier to the AV apparatus 12 (second AV apparatus). The headphone audio amplifier has an output impedance which is substantially equal to the input impedance of the stereo headphone HP, and the line output audio amplifier and the video amplifier have respective output impedances which are substantially equal to the audio and video input impedances of the AV apparatus 12.
It is assumed that the first AV apparatus is regarded as a first information-handling apparatus and the headphone and the second AV apparatus as a plurality of second information-handling apparatuses having different impedances. If the second information-handling apparatuses are to be selectively or simultaneously connected to the first information-handling apparatus by connectors comprising jacks and plugs, then since the first information-handling apparatus needs to have two jacks, the first information-handling apparatus should have a large space for accommodating the connectors.
Furthermore, with the connector devices for stereophonic audio/video apparatus, because the first AV apparatus has two jacks, the first AV apparatus requires a large space for accommodating the connectors.